~Dedicated to my beautiful friend who asks wise questions~

I’ve been asked to write about the difference between TCM acupuncture and 5 Elements theory.
Oy! So much to be said, how can I leave something out? And will it be clear? Am I really the person for the task??
OK, deep breath…. right. Now.
This is what I came up with, and feel free to add your own perspective in the comments section.

5E in short
The 5 Elements theory (or the 5 phases) is a vital part of Chinese philosophy.
In Man we can see a reflection of nature, meaning that we can see in Man many of the phases that occur in nature, as Man is a part of nature.
The 5 elements according to CM are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water.
All of the things we can see around us can be categorized according to the 5E- emotions, sounds, seasons, colors and so on.
According to this theory, a person has the 5E in him at all times, but one element stands in the heart of that individual, one element is the core of a person being. Know what that element is and you will understand what makes this person tick.
Of course there are other elements that can be seen in this person, sometimes one uses an element that is not the core element to protect himself, therefore confusing people around him and practitioners.

With the 5E theory, the practitioner can reach a deeper level in his patient.
If we think about it, most of the symptoms we see in our patients come from one main problem. Once we are able to reach that main problem and treat it- most of the symptoms should be solved or at least get better.
When we are able to recognize a certain person’s main type-element, we can talk in the language he talks, understand what is his most desperate desire and work from there.
Example- if a person is a Fire type, one deep desire he might have is to be loved. He needs us to love him.

This form of CM can be very tricky, but has amazing results.
The full understanding of the 5E theory is almost like the understanding of Chinese psychology, it works on many levels and can make profound changes in a person’s life.

TCM in short
TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) is not a part of Chinese philosophy. 
TCM is more about herbal medicine than it is about acupuncture, at least to my humble understanding and opinion.
Traditional Chinese Medicine is the most common form of CM we can find in China.
The USA also tends to be very TCM, while Europe tends to be curious regarding 5E and Stems and Branches.
TCM works with a very clear idea in mind- a person suffers from 5 problems, we have certain syndromes in our diagnosis, each syndrome has it’s acupuncture points, it’s Chinese herbs formula- let’s get started.
This way, a person who has Spleen Qi deficiency will be the lucky winner of the SP6+ ST36 treatment, bi-lateral.
Then of course comes the part of the Chinese herbs, but since I’m not a herbs fan, I won’t try and match the correct formula.
TCM has a very good understanding on the development of pathological problems, how did this person develop the ST Fire he suffers from? Where did it start? How did the ST Fire triggered another syndrome to show up?

And of course, TCM has the whole Chinese herbs on it’s side, which is- although I’m not a fan- a very powerful tool.
Problems that have to do with Blood- Blood Stasis, Blood Xu (Deficiency) and others- Chinese herbs work very well with these kind of problems, which is why they are very useful in Gynecology (Dang Gui anyone?).

All that being said, now we can see how the treatment will be different in these two approaches.
While TCM will treat the person as a whole, it aims to treat certain patterns and uses many needles in one acupuncture session, when I was taught TCM the minimum was 4 and the average was 8 needles per session.
5E aims to reach as deep as it can, work more according to the pulse and aims to use very few needles in an acupuncture session, one or two can certainly be enough.

Note- my personal opinion
During my years of studying and later on in practice, I found many questions and very few answers to various questions regarding TCM. For example- one book mentioned deep energy of a certain organ.
How does TCM explains deep energies? For example, the Spleen is of the Earth element, but has a deep energy of Fire. TCM doesn’t acknowledge that deep energy and never once reminds it throughout 4 years of studies.
Does it matter?

I believe it does.
Only the understanding of the many layers in a person can being to a significant, true and deep change that can set a person free from his problems. Since we are not separating body from mind, we know that migraines can be linked to repressed anger. Once you treat that anger, there’s a change in the migraines- sometimes to the point where they vanish and never return, as I for example am happy to report personally.

So those who studied TCM- don’t think that I think you did wrong. I do encourage you to study more, read more, go deeper. It will help you as individuals, and it will help you to help your patients in a more profound way.

Reading notes
As I have your attention- :)- I will recommend the following books:

Traditional Acupuncture: The Law of The Five Elements- interesting and not too expensive.

Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture- by Angela Hicks, John Hicks and Peter Mole. I don’t about the other two, but Peter Mole practices the art of the 5E and combines it with TCM. Interesting!

Leave me your notes, tell me what you think.